See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)
Recently a friend commented on a new board game that was being advertised on a Christian radio station. Called ROAD TO HEAVENTM, it is described as “a strategic game where players experience life's challenges while competing to be the first to get into Heaven.” You can look it up for yourself if you, like me, can’t believe it is real (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1560395177/road-to-heaventm-board-game).
While I shake my head at such a game, I know that there are people of faith who believe in the premise of this game for real life — if I make the right choices, I will be assured that I will earn my way into heaven.
A week ago we celebrated Reformation Sunday and just yesterday we celebrated All Saints Sunday — two festivals of the church year when we are especially mindful that our being saved is not our doing but is a gift from God in Jesus Christ. These celebrations reinforce for us that life is not a game of making the right choices to earn our way into God’s favor. Our lives are, instead, expressions of our thanksgiving for being claimed by a loving and forgiving God.
We do face choices in our life journey that will have consequences —social consequences that affect our relationships with each other, and perhaps civic consequences that could land us in jail. But those choices will not determine if and when we get to heaven. Jesus, our Savior, has already done the work necessary to make that determination!
As we go about our daily lives this week, let us do so confident about our future — not because we have always made the right choices, but because God in Christ has chosen us.
Thank you gracious and loving God, for claiming me as your own beloved child. Help me to live a life of gratitude for the gifts your pour into my life every day. Show me the way to walk so that I bring glory to your name and witness to your love in all I say and do. In Jesus Christ, Amen.
Contributed by Bishop Bartholomew
Monday November 3, 2014
Liturgical Year A: Week 49
Liturgical Color: Green
Sunday Gospel reading: Proper 26
Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost